Conveyer



Jan 30,` 1945. I J. H. -FuLPER CONVEYER Filed July 2v, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. H. FULPER Jan. 30, 1945.

coNvEYER Filed July 27, 1944 5 sheets-sheet? Jan. 30, 1945.

J. H. FULPER 2,368,353

CONVEYER Filed July 27, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR,

Patented Jan. 30, 1945 UNITED Parent wanee Machinery & Conveyor Co.; Ill, a' corporation of Illinois K'ewane'e,

application.: July-2,7, 1944;.seria'11Nnlamasar srclaims. (o1. roja- 233) The current invention relates. to.` cert-ain;` re1- cently'evolved features :ofi-.bettermentiandladvan. tage, `both structural' andy functionaL. in .poweroperated conveyers. for coal on oomparableimaterial; and it. concernsvmore. particularly.v appliances: of this.type\mountedtonacarriages o-rtrucks allowing. the-rn.I to be.E transported with facility; and dispatch on: highways or4 city.` streets. tol the locationswhereused..

Ilhe. present preferred; embodiment of: theI inF vention. in.- physical-formy may tbe.y conveniently transported or towed behind the motor-vehicle, such .as a. coal-loaded truck; .to the workz site'. and thenzydisconnected; therefrom and. readily and expeditiously adjustedi b-y its: own. mechanical means to; convey the. fuel to',. and'dischargeL or deliver: it into,; coal receivingg'windows .of varying heights from.. the; ground,i whether.` they.- beat gnound-level,` asinibasementf-windows, `or at suitable height. forY shovelingi coallintofrom the bed of. the. coal-truck', the coal thusV transferredi, and dischargech being` receivedat the opposite end of theconveyei;A from;` a. mechanical dumpitruckor otherimeansg. i

The invention .pertains .-more.particularly` to Athe novel; structure; of; the carriagea ofi the conveyor and meansfcr pivotaliadj ustment". of. thefconveyer withrespect; to such carriage fand-rit` also relates togfmeansfor supportingttliefmachine in transport alliof; which'isf-described hereinafter.v

To enable those; acquainted. with this art to understand:` the. invention and@v the ibeneiitsfA ac'- cruing from its employment, an existing andr'd'esirable'form. ofA structure has been illustrated in detaiLin: the accompanying drawings; forming a partof: this specification, and. to Whichmeference should: bev had, in. connection with the' following specification, like referencenumeralsliavingf for theesake of; simplicity; been used to designate' the sameparts'in the several views.

Inzthese drawings- Fig: lshows' thenewandfinnovatory. conveyer gli Eigz- 5i is azpaotialiperspectiveviewfot 'ai-portion' ofthe carriages-frame'.

In these drawings no attempt; has/beenimade to illustrate: the', coat-truck; delivering: coal.. on' to the4 oonveyer, nor: to portnayf the: new: conveyer discharging', itsl. coal;V into7 ai.' bin, .nor` to.4 depict all ofithe structura-hdetailsi of; the: particular style l of, conveyor-shown' sinceniany'ofb these are old and; Well .known inY .therantll H-eretofore',. when: coal .or the; like-has been delivered; to purchasers;Y and: users, it; has; been customary to dump such materia-l.i onthe ground and. then transport it into; the-coaalfbini or otherv storage facility manuallyffoperated: means. as by: shoveling. it byhand\ direct from` the co-alconveyanceinto. the users receptacle, ,ori by means inside-elevation in fullflines inl towing` relation;

of a: small, mechanically-actuatedconveyer lifted manually into operative position, or byv a large conveyerwhicnhas been-.towedftoA the =work .locationfffor the purpose,v butwhich is: incapable lof being-.loweredto the groundior. discharging coal ortheflike to. groundfleveLbasementewiindows.

All. ofK these..4 prior appliances and methodsV o-f procedurey have had definitedisadvantages@ such as the heavy manual labor. involvedreirthe-slowness-ofthe operation. f l

, Accordingly, one. outstanding, pur-pose of' this invention resides in.. the provision.. of means to overcome4 these difficulties and it f involves pivoting .or hinging the. carriagefonithe conveyor and by anLhydraulic-ram; or othersuitableactuatingmeans, controlling.. theposition of. 'such carriage with/respect totlie. conveyer` to. raise. or llower thelatter toany position..within.itsrangedesired bythe. operator, andespecially to lower itand bring itlto .rest on tlieground. between the.4 transporting ground-wheels whereitmayv function in ahorizontal Ipositionto discharge the.A coal'.v into basement-windows or other ground-level open.- ings t'obin's or other storage'facilities. `Referring' to-thedi'awings; it'willoefnoted'that tlie-novel and improved*trailereconveyer 'has'l the usualelongated frame orboom of'l ordinary construction; but; in tliis instance; it 'is-:equipped at itsiforiwardonload-receivingfend with an effi'- cientrandgconvenient; springlcushionedoonnector l 2,v adapted-to ibe coupled: tiorthe:v rear: end; of? the icoalrloaded truclif (no,1;..shown).` during. transportation of the. conveyorv tofthelocationt where iti is to perform its service.

Mountedon suchconveyer-boomisan.internalcombustion enginey IB, or. other power. means, in the present' instance connected.. by successive driving=chains V4* and I 5'* an'd" cooperating. parts to diev actuating shaft" IB* at tl'ie loadreceiviiig end of the conveyer which operates the parallel,

ysuitably-guided, endless conveyor-chains i1 and I8 (Figs. 2 and 3) cross-connected together at intervals, as is usual, by coal-feeding slats or bars I9, I9.

This complete, lengthy conveyer, by means of a pair of bearings 2l, 2i mounted on the underside thereof, is rockingly supported on a hollow, cylindrical shaft or tube 22 constituting the intermediate cross-member of a'substantially U-shape carriage-frame having hollow, parallel side-members yit is above the ground.

Manifestly, byrocking frame 22, 23, 23, up or down around the axis of the ground-wheels 24, 24, the height of the conveyor may be varied as desired from ground-level, as portrayed in dotted lines in the lower portion lof Fig. 1, in which case the shaft 22 of the supporting carriage-frame rests on the ground, up to its iull inclined height as presented in the upper portion of the same ligure of the drawings.

rThe means by which this is accomplished comprises an hydraulic-ram, the cylinder 25 of which at its closed end is hinged at 2S to a pair of parallel arms 2l, 2l welded to, and outstanding from, the frame shaft or cross-member 22. (Fis. 1, 3, 4 and 5.)

The protruding end of the plunger or piston 28 of the cylinder 25 is hinged or rockingly mounted at 2,9 on a bracket 3l rigidly mounted on one side of the conveyer and having a hub 32 (Fig. 3) encasing the part 22 to assure an unchanging relation of the conveyer, the bracket, and the carriage-frame member 22.

A pump 33 (Fig. 1) equipped with a detachable operating-handle 34, is adapted, when actuated by the handle, to supply hydraulic-liquid under suitable pressure to the interior of the adjacent end portion of cylinder 25 throuh a flexible conduit or pipe 35 (Figs. 1 and 4) to force the piston outwardly thereby elongating the distance between the two hinge connections 29 and 26, and as a consequence rocking the wheeled frame or carriage around the axis of the cross-member 22 and also around the axis ofthe ground-wheels to elevate the conveyor.

Pump 33 is supplied with a hand-operated relief-valve 36, which, when open, allows the hydraulic liquid to now from the cylinder 25 through the connection 35 into the sump 31 from which it may be later available for pumping.

Such opening of valve 36 releases the fluid pressure in the cylinder and allows -the piston or plunger 28 to slide inwardly thereof thus effecting a lowering of the carriage-frame as will be readily understood, the speed of such descentl being controlled by the degree of valve opening.

The specied operation of the pump and valve allows the conveyer to be lowered to the ground between the side frame members 23, 23 for delivery of the coal into low windows or other openings, and in that case the cross-piece of the U- tive means for support of the conveyer while the latter is in transit as when being towed, or pulled along, while supported on its own wheels Whether the pivotal action of the wheeled car'- riage with respect. to the conveyer is controlled by hydraulic means, or by hand winch and cables, or by other suitable mechanism, it is a matter of safety to provide means to rest the conveyer boom on the side members 23, 23 of the carriage-frame when the machine is in transport, and, in this particular case, the conveyer has been provided at each side with semi-elliptic springs 38, 38 (Figs. 1 and 2) so located and applied to the sides of the conveyer that, when the conveyer' is lowered to rest on the carriage side-frame members with the hydraulic-valve 36 open, the cross-member 22 is allowed to rock freely in the bearings 2|, 2l,

and effective spring action is available to cushion v road shocks due to high speedof towing.

It is therefore desirable to provide suitable supports for the conveyer in transit, which members should also be quickly removable from the path of the boom when it is desired to lower it to the ground.

To accomplish this result, at each side of the structure a suitably-braced, opstanding angle-bar 4| is welded or otherwise fixedly secured to the top of the corresponding side carriage-member 23 in approximately the same Vertical plane as that of the axis of the adjacent carrying-wheel 24, the transverse flange of such part 4I having a series of vertically-spaced apertures 42.

By means of a pivot or hinge pin 43 (Figs. 2

' and 5) occupying one of such apertures and a hole in a triangular bracket 44, the latter is rockingly mounted on such side-bar 23, the bracket having a hook 45 and a marginal'iiang'e 45, the hook by engagement with member 4l holding the bracket in proper position to support the corresponding spring 38 when the ccnveyer is being towed as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the flange 46 by engagement with bar 4I maintaining the bracket in inoperative position when the conveyer is being lowered to ground-level and while occupying such position.

Thus the springs function to yieldingly support the conveyer while it is being towed and to efliciently absorb the shocks incident to such travel.

Those skilled in this art will readily appreciate that the invention, as dened by the appended claims, is not necessarily limited and restricted to the precise and exact details of structure and function herein set forth and that reasonable modifications may be resorted to without departure from the heart and essence of the invention and without the loss or sacrifice of any of its material benets and advantages.

I claim:

1. In a transportable-conveyor mounted on transversely-aligned ground carrying-wheels, the novel combination of (a) a rigid conveyer-supporting frame of substantially U-shape on which said wheels are rotatably mounted near the free ends of the sides of the U-irame, the sides of said frame being spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the conveyer to accommodate the latter between them, (b) means rockngly mountir'g the conveyer on the cross-piece of the U- frame at an intermediate point of the length of the conveyer, (c) hydraulic-ram means to rock said wheel-supported frame relative to the con- Veyer and around the axis' of said wheels to lower said frame cross-piece and the conveyer to substantially ground-level and to elevate them todifferent heights above said ground-level, (d) sustaining spring-means on said conveyor, and (e) supporting-means for said spring-means movably mounted on said U-frame either into operative p0- sition beneath said spring-means whereby the latter are supported thereby in the transporting position of the conveyer or into inoperative position` from beneath said spring-means when the con- Veyer is to be lowered below such transported position, said ram having a relief-valve eliminating when open the Huid-pressure in the ram.

2. In a transportable-conveyor mounted on transversely-aligned ground-carrying wheels, and having a rigid conveyer-supporting frame of substantially U-shape on which said wheels arerotatably mounted near the free ends of the sides of the U-frame, the sides of said frame being spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the conveyer to accommodate the latter between them, means rockingly mounting the conveyor on the cross-piece of the U-frame at an intermediate point of the length of the conveyor, and means to rock said wheel-supported frame relative to the conveyer and around the axis of said wheels to lower said frame cross-piece and the conveyer to substantially ground-level and to raise them torv transport height, the novel combination being sustaining spring-means on said conveyer, and

supporting-means for said spring-means moi/ablyv mounted on said U-irame either into operative position beneath the spring-means whereby the latter are supported thereby in the transporting position of the conveyor, or into inoperative position from beneath said spring-means when the conveyer is to be lowered below such transporting position.

3. In a transportable-conveyer mounted on transversely-aligned ground-carrying wheels, and having a rigid conveyer-supporting frame of subi stantially U-'shape on which said wheels are rotatably mounted near the free ends of the sides of the U-frame, the sides of Said frame being spaced apart a distance greater than the width of the conveyor to accommodate the latter between them, means rockingly mounting the conveyer on the vcross-piece of the U-frame at an intermediate `springs whereby the latter are supported thereby in the transporting position of the conveyor, or into inoperative position from beneath the springs When the conveyer is to be lowered below said transporting position. JOHN H. FULPER. 

